Davidoff Royalty

While I do suspect that this would be close to hit the 4-star mark with a bunch of years on it, there really is no obvious need to age it. It's very nice as it is, straight out of the tin, but unfortunately this is something that is reflected in its price point.

It is more expensive than the competition for sure, and part of the price tag is surely in the brand name alone. I don't buy this very often (I prefer Dunhill englishes over this), so I'm not terribly concerned. Besides, the way things are going, there aren't many cheap tobaccos around anyway (certainly not in Europe) - one could argue you might as well go with something you know will hit the spot. Price is however a valid concern if you find yourself making this an all day, every day, kind of smoke. In that case, you better have your finances in order to make it work.

But either way, this is a very nice english mixture. Presentation, although it shouldn't impact too much on the overall impression and score, is (as should be expected) flawless; predominatly bright and red long and stringy ribboncut VA's and olive tinted orientals intertwined with slightly larger and shorter bits and pieces of latakia that makes for an easy-going packing and easilly managed high quality smoke, in virtually all aspects. Perhaps a tiny bit too heavy on the latakia for my personal taste, but there are plenty of sweet oriental tanginess and red VA tastiness to make it a blend well worth trying, perhaps as an alternative to Dunhill englishes, as it does bear a slight resemblance to 965, but has a broader oriental profile and more pronounced spicy sweetness.

One key aspect of the Davidoff brand, all elitistic nonsense aside, is that it has a decently high availability across Europe; and in that regard, you could do much worse than trying a tin of this, especially when considering the alternatives available, even at "wellstocked" tobacconists.